


Antinomy

by GooseAndGold



Category: Naruto
Genre: Asexual Character, Blank Period, Forced Bonding, M/M, Not Chapter 700 Compliant, Sharing Chakra, Soul Bond, Sunagakure - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-02
Updated: 2016-07-10
Packaged: 2018-06-05 20:45:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6722719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GooseAndGold/pseuds/GooseAndGold
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Antinomy (anˈtinəmē) -noun<br/>A contradiction between two beliefs or conclusions that are in themselves reasonable. </p><p>"Lee had never really heard of it before. It seemed that it was a rare jutsu in general, but for someone like himself who couldn’t use ninjutsu or genjutsu, the seal would truly be pointless. The seal was also apparently extraordinarily difficult, and completely forbidden unless by consent of one’s Kage. After all, after simply activating the Fastening Seal he and Gaara had been unconscious for three hours. And that was not the only ill effect."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Set in the Blank Period (between chapters 699 and 700 of the manga), two years after Kakashi becomes Hokage.

 

 

Rock Lee stood at the grand gates leading into Konohagakure, thrilled that the Sixth Hokage, Hatake Kakashi, had settled himself into his new role sufficiently and was now calling a Five Kage Summit. The Tsuchikage had been the first to arrive, and Lee had given the elder a wide berth; he was not who Lee was waiting for, and the young chuunin had been informed that despite the new era of peace, a certain amount of diplomatic finesse was required. Lee was a shinobi who understood the importance of knowing one’s strengths, and he had to admit that he would need more training in the realm of diplomatic relations. Perhaps Shikamaru-kun…

As though summoned by his thoughts, four dark shapes appeared on the horizon, moving quickly down the road from the West and toward the village. Lee stood even straighter as his fists clenched in anticipation. It had been too long since he had seen his dear friend. Gaara, the Fifth Kazekage, was flanked by his sibling-advisors and led by Nara Shikamaru up the road to the village. He was the only Kage (apart from the Hokage, of course) who Lee had been given permission to associate with during the summit. Lee was certain that his Hokage understood that Lee would have trouble restraining himself from greeting his good friend and hearing the Suna nin tell him of his time away. Temari-san was usually in Konoha, of course, as Gaara had chosen her as his diplomat to the new Hokage and the Land of Fire. However, she was…less able to accept the spirited and sincere nature of Lee’s youthful friendship. Lee had accepted this, however—it only meant that the manly bond of friendship between him and Gaara was of a rare and extraordinary quality!

Except, of course, Lee had not seen the Kazekage in years. Temari was a constant presence in Konoha, and both Hatake-sama and Naruto-kun made frequent trips to Sunagakure, but Gaara was a busy man…and a private one! How admirable for a shinobi to cultivate the virtue of silence!

“They made good time,” Tenten said beside him.

“I bet Shikamaru just wanted to get the trip over with,” Ino replied with a laugh. The two young women—teammates of Lee’s and Shikamaru-kun’s, and good friends of Temari’s, had also come to the gate to wait for Suna’s envoy to arrive.

Lee’s hands clenched into fists at his sides. Oh, to see his friend again after so long!

“Gaara!” Lee called, waving once his friend had neared the gate.

“I think you mean ‘Kazekage-sama,’” Tenten whispered to him. Of course! It was even more important that he respect Gaara’s position during the summit!

“Kazekage-sama, Temari, Kankurō-san,” Ino greeted as the three came to stop in front of them.

“Ino-san,” Kankurō replied. “Good to see you again. Were you guys waiting here just for us?”

“Lord Hokage needed someone to greet each envoy, so naturally we volunteered for this one,” Tenten told him.

“Naturally,” Shikamaru said with a laugh, glancing over at Lee, who was in turn struggling to contain his excitement.

“Gaara-sama!” Lee exclaimed, stiff and polite as his excitement would allow him to be. “I am so happy to see you again! You look very well! I am hoping you would be willing to spar with me!”

“ _Lee,_ ” Tenten hissed beside him, “the Lord Kazekage just ran for two days straight to get here for this important summit. Maybe now isn’t the right time to ask him to fight you?”

“Oh,” Lee said, deflating. “Yes, I guess that is true. Um…”

“We’re pretty hungry from the run,” Kankurō said with a small smile. “Do you know any good places to eat, Lee?”

“Me? I’m sure Temari-san also knows—”

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. “We all like to eat at this yakiniku place, just a few blocks from here. Do you want to check in with the Hokage’s office and then grab a bite?

“That would be perfect,” Temari said, shepherding her brothers forward through the massive gates into the village.

It was a short time later that they had checked in, left their packs in the guest suites that would be housing the four outside villages’ envoys, and made their way back to Yakiniku Q. They were seated in a special room away from the main area, with a whisper about ‘special guests.’ Gaara and his brother were looking at the menu options posted on the walls with matching frowns.

“They don’t have any salted lizard,” Kankurō said with confusion.

“Or gizzard,” Gaara added softly.

“The locals like a lot of pork,” Temari told them with a grin, clearly pleased to disappoint her brothers. Though what could be disappointing about grilled pork was beyond Lee.

“Well, what do the ‘locals’ recommend we order?” Kankurō directed toward their side of the table, effectively ignoring his older sister.

Tenten looked up at the menu thoughtfully. “Saury fish?”

“Pass,” Kankurō replied at the same moment that Gaara responded “I’ll try it.”

“The beef loin is good,” Ino volunteered for Kankurō, apparently taking pity.

They decided to splurge, ordering a bit of everything for their visitors to try. The plates of meat, when they arrived, were accompanied by bowls of rice, dipping sauces, and vegetables sliced to be grilled as well.

“Have you two never eaten seafood before?” Ino asked.

Lee looked up and saw the two young men from Suna eyeing at the plate of saury, tuna belly, squid, and yellowtail, but not moving to put any on the grill.

“We were served sashimi once when we visited Kirigakure,” Gaara said with a frown.

His sister snorted. “It wasn’t a great way to introduce desert-dwellers to fish.”

“You didn’t like it?” Tenten asked.

Temari shrugged. “You can’t get anything like that in Wind Country.”

“Wow,” Tenten said with a laugh, “I guess I didn’t picture you guys being picky eaters.”

“Oh, Kankurō-chan here was a _really_ picky eater when he was little. Our uncle once tried to trick him so he would—”

“ _Temari_ ,” Kankurō interjected forcefully. “Can we not trade baby stories during diplomatic trips?”

Lee looked over to Gaara, who seemed to be avoiding making eye contact with his siblings, which made him wonder if he had some embarrassing stories as well. He would love to be close enough to his friend to hear them some day, but he understood that a man must have his pride.

“Anyways, the food in Suna is god-awful,” Shikamaru stated, earning him a swat on the head across the table from Temari. He shrugged and picked a piece of beef off the grill. “You can pretend I’m wrong but you keep comin’ back to Konoha and demanding we eat out.”

“Probably so you don’t complain about having to cook and clean,” Ino said under her breath as she dipped a piece of grilled eggplant in sauce.

Lee noticed, suddenly, the sound of sandaled feet running into the restaurant and up to their booth. The others turned as well, looking to see a young man Lee did not recognize, wearing a chuunin vest and holding a scroll in both hands as if it would break if he dropped it.

“Lord Kazekage,” he said, bowing to each of the guests from Suna in turn, “the Lord Hokage has sent a message for you.”

Gaara frowned, standing to take the scroll from the messenger.

“I thought Kakashi said he wouldn’t need you guys until the Raikage and Mizukage arrived,” Tenten said, glancing at the chuunin.

Gaara untied the tie on the scroll and pulled it open. “I don’t know this seal,” he said slowly. Did Hatake-sama explain what he meant by this?”

“I’m not sure,” the messenger said apologetically.

“He sent you a seal?” Lee was no expert as seals, given that he could not mold chakra to activate them, however he stood to look over his friend’s shoulder at the message and see if he could decipher it. He only managed a short glance at the seal’s unfamiliar pattern before collapsing to the ground.

 

* * *

 

Lee had never really heard of it before. It seemed that it was rare in general, but for someone like himself who couldn’t use ninjutsu or genjutsu, the seal would truly be pointless. The seal was also apparently extraordinarily difficult, and completely forbidden unless by consent of one’s Kage. After all, after simply activating the Fastening Seal, he and Gaara had been unconscious for three hours. That was not the only ill effect, however.

Lee, Sakura-chan, and the envoy from Sunagakure sat in a room in Konoha’s hospital as Yamato explained the purpose and effects of the Fastening Seal.

“Some people think of it like a marriage,” the man told them. “It can heighten attraction and libido for romantic partners, and it also has some benefits for combat, though if you ask me I think they’re outweighed by the drawbacks. The big thing is that is causes a sharing of sensations. People marked by the seal start feeling each other’s emotions, their pain or pleasure, and sometimes even sharing thoughts or dreams. There’s a story of a couple from Kirigakure who used the seal so the husband, who was blind, could go on missions with his wife and use her sense of sight to navigate. That kind of connection is extreme, though. The point is that it creates a very strong connection, and that’s not always a good thing. Not for shinobi.”

The most terrifying effect, it seemed, was that if one of the people involved in the Fastening were seriously injured or killed—during a mission or simply as a consequence of living—the other member of the pair was likely to die as well. The occasional civilian might request the seal be drawn up and activated for them, and Lee supposed he could see why the idea of it would be romantic, but if he had to die for a partner or a lover he would rather do so while defending them rather than simply dying. Shinobi, and politicians who had even the slightest reason to be concerned about assassination, wouldn’t likely consent to being the target of such a jutsu. Romantic though it could be, and as many benefits as there were, it meant that killing the stronger of a pair became a matter of killing the weaker of them and letting the seal take its course. The seal also forced the affected people to need to be physically close or they would start feeling exhaustion and disorientation—something shinobi on missions could not risk. The result was that Kages almost never granted permission for it to be performed, and there were serious consequences to proceeding without that consent.

Beyond these practical considerations, there were also the considerations of the heart. Lee took careful note of these as well, however he realized as Yamato-sensei began to detail these effects that they likely would not apply to him in particular. The issues here were around heartfelt consent. That was to say that if there was any mutual attraction between the two affected individuals, the seal would exaggerate that feeling beyond what they might have chosen for themselves. To Lee, it sounded a little like how rice wine affected some of the jounin sensei on their nights off.

Yamato also informed them that the targets of the seal had to be awake and in close proximity. In this case, it was probably written to activate for the first two people who saw it together. Gaara and Lee had been those two people, so Lee supposed that was all there was to it.

Except that that was apparently the sort of oversight preventing Lee from mastering diplomacy. It seemed that in their particular case, this is a very precarious turn of events. So precarious, in fact, that the Five Kage Summit had been cancelled indefinitely.

“We have discussed it, and we believe this is an attempt on Gaara’s life,” Temari informed the assembled shinobi gravely.

“Our Kazekage is more well-liked than anyone would have expected,” Kankurō added, “and we’re in an era of peace. That said, he does still have enemies. So did our father, the Fourth Kazekage, and we don’t think it’s impossible that people would hold a grudge against our family. There are people who resent the idea of the Kazekage’s position being an inherited one, and there are still people who believe Gaara is too dangerous. There could also be people who resent our actions in the past.”

Temari spoke again, sounding frustrated. “Not to mention any enemies of Sunagakure or the Land of Wind as entities in themselves.”

Hatake-sama interlaced his fingers and rested his chin on them, regarding the Suna siblings each in turn. “So because Gaara is difficult to harm, let alone assassinate, you think a conspirator is using the seal to create a weak point,” he surmised.

Lee felt confused. The Fastening Seal had its inconveniences and its dangers, but surely it also leant the targets a great amount of strength. In fact, if Gaara wanted, Lee would be thrilled to explore the possibilities of shared chakra and the other effects of the seal apparently had when adapted for combat. “Please rest assured that while I must accompany Gaara, he will be protected to the best of my ability! Gaara is a dear friend and I would never allow harm to come to him,” he told everyone confidently, punctuating the statement with a Good Guy pose to express his sincerity.

Lee didn’t feel a hint of emotion from the Kazekage, however the discomfort on his siblings’ faces was plain to see. Now it was clear he had missed something.

Kankurō sighed. “We’re sure you would do your best, Lee-san, but…”

Temari interrupted her brother. “If you’re killed, Gaara may die as well. You’re the weakness the seal has created.”

 

* * *

 

Lee was devastated by the idea that he might be weak enough that he was putting Gaara in danger. While he trained every day with as much passion as he could muster, he knew that his talents were specific and specialized. The fact that he would not be with Gai-sensei and Tenten meant that he also would not have the luxury of relying on their familiar team.

The evening before they set out for Sunagakure, Lee had wanted to do one hundred laps around Konoha while standing on his hands, however Temari-san had scolded him and informed him that going out alone would mean that he was putting himself in harm’s way, where he could be more easily targeted. He had attempted to reason with her that Konoha was his home, and it was safe and its people were trustworthy. However, the Suna kunochi was clearly shaken by the seal and had demanded he stay indoors where they could watch him.

Lee felt miserable. It was so similar to the period in his life where he’d thought he would never be a shinobi again—that his career as a taijutsu-only ninja had come to an end barely a year after it had begun. That had been because of Gaara, too, but he felt no grudge then or now. In fact, now _he_ was squarely to blame. Because of Lee’s ineptitude, Gaara would have to take care for the rest of his life. Even worse, Lee would not be able to train to become stronger and make himself less of a burden to his friend, because training might cause him to be injured or leave him open to an assassination attempt. While he would do whatever he could to stay strong and keep Gaara safe now that he was forced into this position…

Lee realized then that Gaara was staring at him.

“Ahh! Gaara. Yes? Can I do something for you?”

The Kazekage took a long time to respond, and Lee fought the urge to ask if he’d heard the question—after all, Gaara was a slow-paced and deliberate young man, and Lee could consider this as training for his patience. In fact, if he couldn’t set challenges for his body, he should of course set challenges for his mind and his will!

The Suna shinobi exhaled, narrowing his eyes at Lee and making it clear that he was considering his response. “You’re upset,” he stated, seeming uncertain.

“No! I am…well…” Lee realized that he would not be successful in telling a lie to escape being an inconvenience. It seemed Gaara was more attuned to their Fastening and was already beginning to puzzle out Lee’s reactions. Certainly if one were to look on the bright side—which is of course what Gai-sensei would be encouraging if he were by Lee’s side now—one would find that being Fastened to a shinobi as talented as Gaara was not a curse at all. Lee needed to rise to the challenge that he had been set! He had to face this task with honesty and work with his bonded partner to toward mutual betterment! “You are right—I have been somewhat upset. However! I have realized that I must strive to not be a burden to you, and to not prevent you from living your life or fulfilling your duties as a Kazekage. That is my new challenge to myself! If I am not able to train in the way I normally would, then I will find other ways to be useful to you! I want you still to think of me as a friend and perhaps even as a rival. Please do not let this seal change anything between us!”

Gaara seemed to take an even longer time to consider what Lee had said. He frowned, though the effect was diminished by his lack of defined brows. “What would it change?”

Lee tried to look for the right words. He did not want to seem presumptuous, but he trusted that Gaara would understand. “Yamato-sensei said that this jutsu is sometimes referred to as the Marriage Seal. I do not want you to feel that we have any sort of…ah…” No, it seemed Lee had encountered quite a difficult obstacle indeed. He felt his face heat up and hoped that his partner could not see his embarrassment, let alone sense it.

“A burden,” Gaara said.

Lee was confused for a moment as he thought backwards through the conversation. “Ah. Uh…yes. I vow not to be one,” he repeated, though his enthusiasm had faded in the face of his embarrassment.

“Then I’ll make the same vow,” the Kazekage told him, before turning back to the message he was writing to send ahead of them by hawk. It seemed that was the end of the conversation, and so Lee excused himself to go back to his room, where he fell asleep contemplating how Gaara could be any sort of burden in a situation like this one.

 

* * *

 

They set out from Konohagakure with Lee casting a long look over his shoulder. Gai-sensei waved and shouted his encouragements from the gate, and Tenten also came to see him off. It was a large gathering, in fact, considering that their movements were meant to be kept secret to avoid the group being targeted before they reached the safety of the Kazekage tower in Suna. Naruto-kun and Hinata-san had come, as had Hatake-sama.

In their group itself were Gaara and his siblings, of course, and they were accompanied not only by Lee but also Shikamaru and Ino. The journey would take three days of decent running, during which time Lee would need to be on constant guard. They ran in relative silence for the first stretch of four hours, stopping to rest once they had passed a sizable civilian town without incident. After putting some distance between them and the settlement, they stopped in a nondescript part of the forest and sat back to rehydrate and to plan their formation for the next stretch—Shikamaru had suggested that it always be changing to prevent pursuers from formulating a strategy.

Lee was happy to leave the planning in Shikamaru’s capable hands—what a glorious thing, to be comrades with such an incredible shinobi! Though he and Shikamaru-kun had never been very close, he was proud to have fought beside him, and was happy that the jounin would be joining him frequently in Sunagakure, as the others from his generation would not always have the chance.

“So, Lee,” Ino whispered, leaning in to speak to Lee alone. “How’s everything…you know…”

She seemed embarrassed to be saying whatever it was that she wanted to say. Lee was not sure whether she was asking about the turmoil in his heart at the thought of leaving his home, or whether she was trying to check that his health would not take a sudden turn for the worst and put an irreplaceable ally of Konoha at risk, or something else entirely. “Yes, Ino-chan?”

She wrinkled her nose, oh-so slightly. “How’s…the seal feeling?”

Oh. Of course. “It is fine at the moment. I believe Gaara and I are close enough at the moment that he will not be uncomfortable.”

“So no…like…” She shrugged a shoulder toward the Kazekage.

Lee was still unsure what it was that his friend was asking.

She sighed, clearly frustrated. Lee was not always the best at guessing what people were trying to say, he knew, so he waited for her to find the right words. “How are you…feeling. About Gaara.”

Oh. _Oh_. “I do not…I feel the same as I always have. I think he is an admirable shinobi and leader.”

The kunoichi seemed unimpressed, with a single eyebrow raised.

“That is to say,” Lee coughed, feeling embarrassed about discussing such a thing. “My heart is not…I am not…” he struggled to phrase his feelings respectfully. It was not that Gaara was unworthy of romantic feelings! Lee simply…

“Okay, yeah, I understand,” Ino interrupted. “Well, obviously some parts of it are already activated, right?”

“Yes, I think so,” Lee agreed. “If we go too far apart I feel a little dizzy. I believe he is also able to feel some of my feelings. I could not explain how I know, but I think he can. I am sure that once we arrive in Suna they will be investigating all of the effects.”

Ino nodded, silent for a little while. Lee imagined she was lost in thought. He let his mind wander too, wondering how he would adapt to life in Sunagakure, until his friend spoke again. “So if part of the seal is that you two can share thoughts and feelings and chakra and everything, does that mean you’ll start being able to do ninjutsu?”

Ino’s question was genuine, curious, and casual. Regardless, Lee felt as though time stopped. The question was heavier than nearly anything he had been faced with in the past. “Nin…jutsu?” Lee managed to whisper.

On the one hand, he ought to be elated. His inability to do ninjutsu had been a point of shame for him, and a difficulty that had plagued him for the entirety of his young life. For it to no longer be an obstacle—for a new door to be opening into a world he had never explored…

And yet, Gai-sensei had taught Lee that challenges were a man’s greatest teacher. Being a taijutsu specialist was what defined and distinguished Lee. It had become the foundation of his identity as a shinobi. It had been the goal that carried him through unbelievable difficulty—to be a great shinobi with the power of a well-trained body alone. Lee was simply in love with taijutsu.

Lee felt the faintest prickle of curiosity, as someone else’s touch in his mind. It was not unpleasant, but it certainly was foreign. Lee realized that it was the first hint of emotion from Gaara, and somehow that made his situation become even clearer—he and the Suna shinobi really were sharing. Chakra was a part of that. What would it mean for them?

“Uh…Lee?” Ino was watching him with a frown that was equal parts concern and annoyance. Had he been ignoring his friend while he worried? Shameful!

“Yes! I am sorry, Ino,” he replied. “I am not sure if I would be able to use ninjutsu. In any case, I would want to ask Gaara’s permission before trying to use his chakra to—”

“You can’t do it,” Shikamaru interjected.

“Shikamaru-kun?”

The jounin rubbed the back of his neck lazily. “My guess is that you won’t be able to use ninjutsu. Your problem isn’t a lack of chakra. Everyone has chakra; actually, every living thing has it. You just can’t control your chakra enough to mold it, so I guess you’re like a civilian in that sense. Gaara’s chakra reserves won’t make a difference.”

Lee felt relieved and disappointed in almost equal measure. Either way, his shoulders relaxed enough to nearly sag. “I _was_ curious,” he mumbled.

Lee heard Kankurō sigh and walk toward the clearing as well, leaving only Gaara and Temari deliberating about their strategy. Lee felt a tingle of something, like his fighting instincts, a second before a stick hit him in the back of the head.

“Ka…Kankurō-san?” Lee turned, certain that the stick had been part of a clever technique for training or to thwart the first of the inevitable string of attempts that would be made on his life.

The Konoha chuunin took in the scene behind him. Kankurō was not watching him at all, but instead had turned to regard Gaara. Lee followed his eyes and noticed the faintest prickle of shock and confusion in his mind as he understood the purpose behind the Suna nin’s actions.

Gaara was looking over his shoulder at Lee, a stunned look on his normally passive face, clearly wondering at the fact that his protective sand had inched toward Lee as though pulled by a magnet.

“Yeah, thought so,” Kankurō huffed. “I dunno whether to be happy about that or not.”

“What do you mean?” Ino turned to their ally.

“Gaara’s sand reacted to try to protect Lee without Gaara telling it to. I don’t think he was even looking, were you?”

Gaara turned to face them fully, shaking his head.

“And I assume,” Shikamaru continued, “that it’s only gonna get more and more protective as the seal strengthens.”

“Exactly,” Kankurō growled. “Which means it’s going to try to protect twice as many people as it normally would. I get the feeling that that’s only the first potential weakness they’re going to have to deal with.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we don't know much about the timeline of the Blank Period, and I'm messing with the canon anyways, so I've taken liberties with the timeline and whatnot. Regardless, I hope that characterization was alright and that you'll keep reading. I have most of the next chapter already written, and I simply need to move around the pieces and fill the gaps. Please leave me feedback if there's anything you think I could improve on, or just leave me some encouragement!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, I guess I lied about having this new chapter out before the _Rainy Season_ update. And about having this out quickly. And on top of that, this is kind of short. BUT! I've written some decent scenes for the next chunk of the story, and I think this bit is alright too. Please enjoy!

* * *

 

When they arrived in Sunagakure, it was not to an excited crowd of friends.

Their group of six had made good time, and they did not stop for the guards standing watch along the sheer cliff that served to fence in the village. They made their way straight to the Kazekage’s tower, in the centre of Suna, and stopped to speak only once the door to the office had been closed.

“It’s safe to say that whoever set the Fastening Seal as a trap knows that it hit its mark,” Temari began without preamble. “So nothing we can do will hide it from them. However, we don’t want news that you two are…compromised…spreading any faster than it needs to. We will choose a personal guard of ANBU, who will be told only that the two of you are being targeted together.”

Lee nodded, looking to Gaara, who was watching his sister with a characteristically neutral expression.

“Ino-san,” the kunoichi continued, “we may be needing your help at some point to ease our investigations. Would you be willing to assist us?”

“Oh…of course, Temari-san,” Ino answered with surprise. “We had already promised Hatake-sama that we would help Suna however we could.”

“Still, I’m asking you personally,” she replied. “As a friend.”

Ino nodded, and both Shikamaru and Lee copied her.  It was very clear how seriously they were taking the issue, and so Lee endeavored to listen carefully and abide by whatever it was they decided. "Let us know however we can help."

"Thank you," Temari replied, sounding grave. "I just want you to know what you're in for. Unfortunately we may be asking a lot of you." She sighed. "Not tonight, though. It's been a long run. Tonight we all need to rest. You all will be guarded well overnight. Tomorrow our investigation begins. And you two," she said, turning to regard Lee and her youngest brother, "will figure out this seal as quickly as you can manage."

 

* * *

 

Shikamaru and Ino were led to a guest house adjacent to the Kazekage’s, where Lee visited them for a short while before he had to move on to settle in with his new partner.

“You will not be staying with Temari-san, Shikamaru?”

Shikamaru shrugged. “She has other stuff to worry about. I don’t stay with her when I’m on ‘official’ visits anyways,” he replied, sinking down onto a couch. “Plus, I’m not gonna leave Ino alone.”

Ino rolled her eyes. “If he stays in the ambassador’s guest house it would be as an ambassador, and he’d have to do actual work.”

“No, I’m serious. Suna is a weird place, and it’s also pretty dangerous right now. In case you two forgot, we’re in the middle of a plot on the Kazekage’s life, and we’re outsiders here. We’re allies with Temari and her brothers but that doesn’t mean we’re off the hook, here. We _are_ on a mission. It’s better if we stick together.”

“Of course,” Lee said, looking out the window at the tower where Gaara lived. “Then it is best if do what you need to, so—”

Lee was interrupted by the sound of his own stomach growling.

Ino chuckled. “I guess we haven’t eaten since we stopped for lunch, huh?”

“Oh man,” Shikamaru groaned.

“What is it?” his teammate asked.

Shikamaru rubbed his hand over his face, seeming more tired than usual. “Wind Country food is weird. It’s weird food. Dried lizards and candied bugs and way too much cactus fruit. Cactus fruit tastes fine but it’s in _everything_. I thought Temari was pranking me with a couple things when I came here the first time.”

Lee was not concerned, as he was a lover of food of any kind, and he was sure he would enjoy Sunagakure’s hospitality. However, Ino had already wrinkled her nose and so Shikamaru had risen off the couch with a groan and gone to the kitchen, which had a fridge stocked with familiar foods and a note which he read, sighed at, and then crumpled without reading aloud.

“Temari had the fridge stocked with stuff I like, so if you guys want some onigiri or something we can do that.”

“It’s not going to have anything weird in it, is it,” Ino asked, coming to look over his shoulder.

“She wouldn’t do that when the food is for people other than me,” Shikamaru sighed.

It turned out that the onigiri contained different kinds of pickles, and they each ate three before Lee decided he had stayed too long and that he should let his friends—and Gaara—settle in for the night.

He said goodbye and earnestly wished his friends a good night—he was so grateful that they had come so far to help him and his new…teammate…sort everything out.

 

* * *

 

Lee knocked firmly at the door and then waited. It was only a moment or two later that Kankurō appeared in a window several floors above him, leaning his head out the window. “You’re gonna be living here indefinitely, so it will be a pain in the ass if you always knock,” he called.

“Should I…just…come in then?” Lee called up. He did not want to be impatient or rude on his first day in Suna.

“Yeah,” Kankurō replied simply before disappearing back into the building. Lee took a deep breath, straightened his back, and pushed open the door.

Inside the building was dark, though like any shinobi his night vision was excellent and Lee was able to make out the sparse, practical furnishings in the home. It was in the Wind Country style, opening right into a living space instead of a front hallway. Lee saw no obvious place to leave his sandals so he took them off and tucked them neatly into a corner.

He could…feel, somehow…that Gaara was above him, and so instead of exploring the Kazekage’s clan home he started quietly up the stairway, running his hand along the unpainted sandstone wall. On the second floor there were candles lit, but no noises, and Lee could tell more clearly that Gaara was on the third floor, so he continued up and then along the hallway until he reached the room his friend was in. The door was ajar, and Lee knocked softly.

“Gaara?

The young man stood from a writing desk in the corner of the room, which was as minimalistic as the rest of what Lee had seen of the home.

“We had a room put together next to this one,” Gaara told him simply.

“Thank you,” Lee replied. He was not sure what else to say. He supposed that this was it—the beginning of some strange stage in his life that was like a forced marriage. He could not feel it through the bond, but he was sure Gaara must have some resentment about the situation. Even Lee, who was only focused on treating this bond like a mission in which he would protect his friend, the Kazekage…even he did not appreciate these circumstances.

Gaara frowned, turning his eyes toward the floor. “I don’t sleep much, but tonight I’m tired. Do you need anything for the night?”

“No. Thank you.”

A soft hum was the reply. “Good night Lee. I’m sorry.”

Lee was so surprised that the door had closed before he could muster up a reply.

 

* * *

 

Lee woke up from a dream. It was a dream of a creature he had never really met, but who was both familiar and unusual. The only time he saw the creature’s face was in the chuunin exams, when he had faced Gaara. The creature’s name was Shukaku, and he felt as though he recognized its eyes.

When he woke, Lee sat up in the bed in the middle of a sparsely-decorated guest room in the Kazekage’s own residence. He calmed his heartbeat slowly, finding that his skin tingled with nervous energy despite the unthreatening nature of the dream. It was only after he had used a breathing technique for shinobi to remain level-headed on stressful missions that he recognized the feeling was not his own. While he had gotten impressions of Gaara’s thoughts before now, this was the first time one had felt as though it was originating with Lee himself. It was clear to the Konoha nin that his partner had been deeply unsettled.

Lee stepped slowly onto the rough stone floor and padded quietly to the door, where he hesitated with his hand hovering inches from the doorknob. The Lord Kazekage was a quiet, private man. Even more, he was a powerful and formidable shinobi. For Lee to believe it was his place to mention this to Gaara, let alone _comfort_ him…it was absurd! He could not think so poorly of such a distinguished ninja as Gaara of the Desert!

It was as he formed his decision not to intrude upon the young Kazekage that he felt a wash of relief—soft, but certain, from the other half of the seal. The right decision, then. Gaara had clearly noticed his intent through their bond, and did not want to be coddled. Lee nodded to himself, feeling foolish but also a little disappointed that he could not find a way to be of use, and he returned to bed.

Nearly an hour must have passed, judging by Lee’s internal clock, before the next nightmare woke him from a light sleep he had not realized he had been in. He sat up again, overcome by nerves and the tiniest bit of irritability. Once he realized what was happening, he also felt sad for his friend, and as unsure as before. He worried that this could not be normal. Was it the influence of the seal, or was Gaara in danger of some kind? Was he sick, or maybe poisoned? The nerves from his nightmare had Lee imagining the worst, and soon he was up and pacing his room again, deciding that it could not hurt if he went and pressed his ear to the Kazekage’s bedroom door to convince himself that his friend was safe.

Lee nodded to himself, clenching his fists before him in a silent display of determination, and opened the door to the hallway. He stopped short, finding a shadowed figure standing in the hall, its head cast down and shoulders hanging.

“G…Gaara?” Lee wondered for a moment if the Kazekage was capable of sleepwalking, as he seemed to have not even noticed the Konoha nin.

Gaara’s head rose slowly, eyes half-lidded. Lee thought he might be frowning, though it was always difficult to tell even without near-total darkness. “You were upset.”

Lee was taken aback by the statement. _He_ was upset? Was the younger man implying that the nightmares were Lee’s?

“I think we…were sharing some dreams?” Lee tried.

Gaara nodded. “I’m sorry.” Did that mean Gaara _did_ know the nightmares were coming from him? Lee was unsure what his friend was trying to say. “I didn’t want to wake you.” The young man turned as if moving to return to his own room, but the movement was an aborted one, and he stayed in the hall.

“Gaara?”

“I think you might be more comfortable if you moved the bed,” the Suna nin told him.

Lee’s eyebrows furrowed. “Move the bed?”

“To the North wall.” That seemed to be all Gaara wanted to say, and he returned to his room and closed the door without saying anything more.

Lee returned to his room his room as well, and stared quizzically at his bed for a moment before deciding it would be best to heed the Kazekage. It was his village, after all! Not to mention it was his house, and his bed! If he wanted Lee to sleep somewhere in particular, then what else could a good house guest do? The Konoha nin bent and lifted one end of the bed and dragged it to the wall adjacent to Gaara’s room, trying to place it somewhere that looked somewhat orderly, even though decoration was not a forte of Lee’s. Once he was sure that it was in a good spot, he climbed back in and settled his breathing, trying to slow his mind from considering Gaara’s strange behaviour. Perhaps it _had_ all been sleepwalking. As he turned and got comfortable, Lee checked on the seal and found that Gaara seemed to be calm, if tired, and was awake. The young man was more used to going several nights without sleep (he would have to train to catch up to the man he was sealed to, as a shinobi who was always seeking to better himself!) so perhaps Lee did not need to feel guilty that he quickly drifted into unconsciousness and slept heavily until the sun had completely cleared the walls of the village that morning.

 

* * *

 

Lee stood in the indoor training ring, with its harsh lighting and sand floor and raised spectator area, and he summoned as much calm as he could manage. Truly, he had allowed too much of his identity to rest on being the ninja without ninjutsu—certainly such a title was a useful tool, but now it seemed to be working against him. He felt like his 5-year-old self again, fighting for admission into the ninja academy. His nervous excitement nearly had him shaking.

Still, though. Perhaps Gai-sensei would not be ashamed of his student’s outpouring of emotion. This was truly a milestone in Lee’s life, though it was coming later for him than for most. Surely it must be a manly thing to feel the full weight of this fine moment!

Lee felt Gaara’s eyes on him, assessing the Konoha nin quietly. He could also feel—despite how little talent he seemed to have with the seal—that Gaara was curious. Well then, perhaps it really was okay if Lee himself was curious too.

The inspector, a man named Baki who Lee recognized from the chuunin exams eight years ago, stepped forward and held up the piece of paper between two gloved fingers. Lee swallowed thickly.

He was about to see the form of his chakra, for the first time in his life.

Gaara stepped forward without a word, coming to stand in front of Baki. He looked over his shoulder expectantly, though Lee was unsure what he should do.

“Is there…a proper way to do this?” Lee asked both men.

Baki considered for a moment. “Gather your chakra together,” he told Lee “as though you were going to open one of your Eight Gates. Do not open any, but raise your energy in that way so Gaara-sama can find it.”

Lee nodded. That was certainly something he could do. He spread his feet and sank into a horse stance, closing his eyes to focus his chakra. He felt it whip up around him almost immediately, a semi-tangible thing that gently pushed back the sand around him and disturbed his hair like a breeze. He felt a gentle touch on his mind, and his chakra was moving without his permission, like his feet did when he was drunk. He felt a little chill as it was removed from him, and the slightest fatigue in his stance, before he felt the touch recede and he allowed himself to relax.

He turned to Gaara then, a whirlwind of feelings overcoming him. He was anxious, excited, frightened, curious, and uncertain. However, most of all he was determined to watch.

The Kazekage paused for a moment, curiously staring at his own hands. The moment seemed to pass and he took the piece of paper that was being offered to him, and held it between two fingers for Lee to see. “My primary nature is Wind chakra. Wind chakra cuts the paper. My secondary nature is Lightning, which wrinkles the paper. Fire will burn it, Water will dampen it, and Earth with crumble it. Those are the reactions for the five basic natures.”

Lee nodded, swallowing again. He remembered the reactions, from long ago. Remembered clutching a piece of paper so hard that it became sweaty and wrinkled beneath his fingers, and he had convinced himself it was a reaction to Lightning and Water. But truly, he always knew it was nothing. Now he would see the real reaction.

Gaara looked down at the paper and exhaled, and it crumbled to dust in a moment. It was so quick. There was no fanfare, no explosion.

“Earth nature,” Baki stated flatly, though he did not need to say anything.  
  
Earth. Rock Lee, Earth nature. Earth chakra. His chakra was Earth chakra.

Gaara dusted his hands together, cleaning the dirt from his palms absent-mindedly. Lee watched as it drifted to the ground, feeling a small loss as though it were his chakra itself falling to the floor.

When he looked back up, he saw Gaara regarding him with narrowed eyes once more. He felt…he felt something from his partner. He could not place it for certain—he knew Gaara was a complicated man so it was probably beyond him—but it felt like determination. Different from Lee’s determination, but that was the feeling.

Gaara raised a hand, sweeping the sand on the floor to the side absently, revealing the stone beneath. He dropped to a knee, and whispered “ _do-ton_.”

It should have meant nothing. Lee was not causing it, and he never would. Yet still…that was his chakra. _His_ chakra.

The stone floor rumbled and rose, an encircling wall pushing up from the rock and casting the three in shadow as it surrounded them. It was a barrier—definitely Gaara’s style. But it was _stone_. Lee reached his hand out, only slightly embarrassed as his palm brushed the rock.

He turned to the Kazekage, and tried to push something else through their bond. _Thank you_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please let me know if you see any typos/grammar errors/glaring plotholes/mischaracterization. I'll try to clean it up as quick as I can! And also as always, I love encouraging feedback. Thanks for reading so far!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand we're back! This chapter has a tiny bit of fear that I wouldn't call a panic attack, but I do want to give the heads up that this situation is stressful for Gaara, and he's going to show more and more of that as we continue. Please be informed, if that's a concern for you.
> 
> Anyways, please enjoy!

* * *

 

 

That night, there were no nightmares. The pair slept soundly, though it took a while for Lee to settle down enough to sleep. His heart had raced all afternoon, remembering the feeling of the chakra pulled from him and how it was transformed into the stone wall. It was a magic he had given up on ever producing, and now Gaara had made it for him. Translated it into something real. While it was thrilling, Lee also felt that he was not living an honourable life as a shinobi and a man—how could he repay the Kazekage for everything? His debts were only increasing!

Soon, though, Lee managed to drift to sleep, exhausted as he was, and woke the next morning determined to find some way to be put to work…if not as a shinobi, then perhaps with Shikamaru or in the Kazekage’s offices! If he could not find a way to be useful, he would…he…well, running laps was probably out of the question now, but he would find some way to train that would not put him in harm’s way!

When Gaara, Lee, and the Kazekage’s new entourage arrived at the offices early that morning, he walked his friend to his offices, bowed low as befitted the Kage of such an illustrious nation, and then sprinted down the five flights of stairs to Konohagakure’s ambassador’s office. Lee summoned up the self-control to knock and wait courteously at the door until Shikamaru called out for him to enter, then he entered in a flurry.

“Good morning, Shikamaru-kun!”

His friend sighed. “Lee, we just saw you ten minutes ago when you were arriving.”

“That is true! But a good friend can never over-express their wishes for their comrades to have a pleasant and productive day!”

Lee looked around to see who else was gathered in the office, to be sure that he was not rudely excluding anyone from these well-wishes. “Temari-san! Kankurō-san! Ino-chan! Good morning to you as well!”

“Hi Lee,” Ino greeted him with a chuckle. “I heard you and Gaara did a chakra test yesterday. How did it go?”

Lee felt the exhilaration of the previous afternoon return to him in a fiery rush. “Ino, you are completely right! Kazekage-sama and I discovered that my chakra is _Earth_ nature!” The young man planted his hands on his hips proudly. “Can I ask what your chakra nature is, Ino?”

“Oh, mine is Earth too,” she said with a smile. “So is Sakura’s, actually.”

“Sakura-chan’s?” It was an odd sensation. A small wave of disappointment that Lee did not expect, at the mention of the young woman he had once hoped to have a grand romance with. He could admit to himself that his dreams of marrying Haruno Sakura were so vivid that they had once seemed inevitable. It seemed that that future was no longer possible for him—even if Sakura had been so inclined—and it was odd to give it up all at once.

“Kiba and Shino’re Earth nature, too,” Shikamaru added from behind a stack of papers, oblivious to Lee’s crisis.

The delight of having something in common with so many honourable and capable shinobi allowed Lee to overcome his momentary distress. Moving forward no matter one’s present circumstances was the hallmark of a good ninja! “May I ask what your chakra nature is, Temari-san?”

The Suna kunoichi looked down at her giant fan pointedly. “You can ask if you need to.”

Kankurō snorted a laugh. “Temari’s chakra is Wind nature. So are mine and Gaara’s. Not too surprising—we’re _from_ the Land of Wind.”

Lee nodded, committing the information to memory. He needed to endeavor to learn more about his new partner, since the Kazekage was helping him in so many ways.

He spent much of the morning helping Shikamaru with some of the ambassadorial and administrative duties his comrade had agreed to take during his stay in Suna, enjoying the chance to spend time with his friends. Eventually, he also got the chance to speak with Temari-san, alone, about his concerns.

“I simply feel that you have all shown me a great deal of hospitality, even though this has been a great burden to you. Therefore, I would like to help to protect Gaara in some way! I think it is important for us to learn how to work together and to use this bond to our advantage.”

Temari paused, setting down the scrolls she had been sorting through. She looked surprised and pensive. “I thought so, too. Have you noticed something you think needs to be worked on?”

Lee shook his head. “No, although I did have a few ideas. I could be useful by helping Gaara train further in taijutsu, since he may have some difficulty with his sand defence.”

Instead of responding, Temari frowned and folded her arms. “You seem to really want to help us out,” she said.

“Of course! I do not want to inconvenience the Kazekage and his clan!”

“Lee,” she said slowly. “Have you told Gaara you feel that way?”

“Yes, I made sure he knew!” He told her sincerely.

“And what did he say?”

Lee thought back to the conversation. He frowned when he remembered it, recalling his confusion. “He said he did not want to be a burden either.”

“Someone is targeting Gaara, and they’re using you to get to him,” she explained. “None of us are happy about this situation, but _you_ didn’t do it.”

Lee thought that over for a moment, during which time Temari resumed her work. He did not feel he was to blame—he never had. But the fact that he could be considered so weak in comparison to Gaara that a Fastening Seal could be used to make Lee a weakness of Gaara’s to exploit…surely the fact that he was not considered a more capable shinobi was something it should be in his power to change. He would resist being used as a flaw in that plot!

“I do not want Gaara to be in danger,” Lee told Temari. “If you think it would help us, I would love to train him in taijutsu. I have not been able to train for days, and I miss it already.”

Temari weighed the idea with a creased brow. “I’d hand-select the group who would stand guard. Kankurō and I would be there. And you’d train _without_ exhausting yourselves.”

Lee nodded sincerely.

“Then I think it’s a good idea. It would probably do you both some good to wail on each other for a while. I’ll suggest it to Gaara once I finish with this.” She gathered a bundle of scrolls in her arms and headed to the door before turning to say, “Lee. I don’t usually say this in the middle of assassination plots, but try not to worry too much.”

 

* * *

 

They stood in the same indoor training ring they had used the day before—large, spacious, and with sand and rock terrain that mimicked the landscape of Wind Country. Lee had put on his heavy training weights, and Gaara had left his heavy sand gourd leaning against a nearby stone wall.

Lee was thrilled to get back to training, but he would not let himself lose sight of the task ahead—training the Kazekage in a skill in which he was not proficient. He could not be too enthusiastic. But what a perfect opportunity to carefully focus on his own technique!

“We will start slow,” Lee said, sliding his foot forward through the sand as he assumed a basic stance.

“I have trained in taijutsu before,” Gaara replied, imitating Lee’s stance skillfully. From anyone else the comment might have seemed defensive.

“Still. I would like to see your form. Would you make the first move?”

Gaara nodded and sprung forward. Lee’s face split into a grin immediately, and he had to fight himself not to become overexcited—his friend was no taijutsu master, but he was quicker and more precise than the Konoha nin had expected from him.

The Kazekage sprung forward with an open-handed strike from dragon style, a taijutsu specialty from Wind Country. Lee ducked to dodge, bracing his hands against the ground as he swung up and back with a kick, fast but obvious. The swing of his kick was deflected up and away by a strike of Gaara’s palm, which was followed by a sweep when his body spun with the momentum. There was a small opening at his side that Lee decided not to take, instead flipping backward to gain distance.

Gaara stilled, dropping back into his defensive stance, his breathing only slightly quickened. Through their link, Lee could feel the tiniest hint of something from his partner—determination, maybe. And focus.

Lee sprung forward with a shout, leaping up for a simple spin kick aimed for the Suna nin’s shoulder. The sand at Gaara’s feet shifted but did not rise to protect him as he stepped clear of the strike. Lee landed with a twist, kicking sand up in an arc around him. Gaara stepped back into range immediately, striking out with a palm directed at Lee’s throat. Lee deflected it with one hand and threw a moderate punch with the other, which Gaara side-stepped, attempting a simultaneous strike and sweep where he thought Lee’s limbs would be. However, the Konoha nin had already sprung into the air with a spin, extending his leg to drop with an axe kick that Gaara would recognize immediately.

Gaara swung a leg behind him, shifting his weight back far enough to avoid the kick and the sweep that Lee transitioned into upon hitting the ground. He settled back into a defensive position, apparently waiting for Lee’s next attack.

Lee was thrilled! He knew that Shira-san had been Gaara’s taijutsu instructor for a time, and he could see some similarities. Even more exciting though, was the fact that Gaara’s movements were more fluid and economical than Shira’s more relentless taijutsu had been. Gaara had the very beginnings of a personal style, and Lee found himself testing farther and faster to see how the Kazekage would respond.

The young man dashed forward again, swerving quickly and running circles around his friend, wondering whether it would succeed in disorienting him—he was certainly faster than he had been in the chuunin exam, even with training weights on. Gaara followed the path of the circle with his eyes for a moment before lunging in the opposite direction of Lee’s spin with a broad kick. The Konoha nin leapt above it, moving with his forward momentum into a jump kick. He saw Gaara’s eyes widen and then narrow in a moment, and he dropped backward, rolling out of the path of the kick and standing just as Lee bared down on him. Lee struck out with the back of his wrist, using a different move from Suna's dragon style to strike at Gaara’s temple.

The sound of the strike connecting was a blunt one, but it still managed to echo slightly in the sudden silence of the training hall.

Gaara held his head to the side, neck still angled where Lee’s blow had forced it. His eyes were wide with shock, staring blankly at the ground. Lee’s arm hung, halfway retracted from its strike, in the space between them. His mouth hung open as he stared at the bright red mark on his friend’s face.

“Gaara are you—”

“I’m fine,” the young man said quickly. He blinked and reached up fingertips to brush the skin where he would be sporting a nasty bruise tomorrow.

“It is all my fault!” Lee cried, dropping to his knees. The first chance he had found to be useful to the Kazekage after becoming a burden to him, and he had hurt him!

Gaara exhaled loudly, then eased down to his knees. “I am fine, Lee. I am the Kazekage. I have died and been brought back. I fought Madara Uchiha and the Ten Tails. You did not hurt me. I am _fine_.”

Lee felt something then, through their link. More certain than the other impressions he had gotten before. Gaara was not in any real pain—he could believe that. He was only surprised, and…scared? Scared of _Lee_? No, that was not it.

“You…” Lee began, trying to replay what had happened. Gaara had been skillful. Confident, even. Lee had gotten excited, and moved too quickly, and Gaara simply had not been quick enough to… “ _Your_ _sand!_ ”

It had not moved. During their fight it had stirred as though Gaara had to stop himself from consciously attacking and defending with it, but it had not reacted as an automatic defense. It had not moved to intercept Lee’s strike. It was likely the first time in Gaara’s life that it had not risen to protect him.

 

* * *

 

That night was the next nightmare.

This one felt more real to Lee. The creature in it was more familiar—Shukaku, with glowing eyes and a ghoulish smile and a wild laugh. Darkness creeping forward, obscuring everything like a heavy mist. Lee’s own body—or Gaara’s, perhaps—moved without his direction, pulled forward like it was falling, passing through the eye and coming through the other side with a burst of anger, fear, and pain. It was dark—so dark—but he was sure he could see a great, writhing mass, with a single red eye and many tails whipping about and shaking the very earth.

Lee woke, shaking. He threw his covers off, standing to pace in the too-hot room, sweat dripping down the back of his neck. The terror would not subside, and he tried to control his breathing, shaking out the nervous energy in his arms and bouncing from foot to foot.

He could not control he feeling. It was not from him. This was Gaara; Gaara was terrified.

Lee felt certain he would regret it later, but he could not let his friend feel this way without trying to help him, Kazekage or not!

He turned to his door, his hand hovering over the knob for only a second before he gathered his nerves and stepped out into the hallway. Tonight, Gaara was not standing in the hall waiting, but Lee did not have the chance to knock on the Kage’s bedroom door before he heard his friend tell him to enter, his voice seeming even drier than normally.

“Gaara,” Lee said as he stepped into the dark room. “Are you…how are you feeling?” He noticed as he entered that the bed had been moved from where it had been the night he first arrived in Sunagakure—it had been switched with the Kazekage’s writing desk and was now against the wall adjacent to Lee’s guest room.

“I’m alright,” Gaara told him. He was wearing a plain cotton tunic and matching trousers, and he sat on the side of the bed so his bare feet touched the cool stone floor. “I’m sorry I woke you.”

Lee took a few tentative steps nearer, not wanting to intrude but feeling compelled to come closer. When he did, he noticed that Gaara’s hands were curled into tight fists that were bunched in his bedsheets, knuckles whiter than his skin.

“I do not think you are alright.” He stepped closer, summoning the boldness to sit on the edge of the bed, though he gave his friend several feet of personal space.

Gaara looked over, into Lee’s eyes. “I _will_ be fine,” he amended.

Lee believed him—he was certain his friend _would_ be just fine. But Gaara’s discomfort was being shared through their connection, and Lee could not ignore it. “If there is something I can do to help you, I would like to do it.”

The Suna nin was silent a long time, considering. Lee could feel several emotions—some of them conflicting—flit through their bond. He could not tell whether he could feel them more clearly because he was standing near his partner, or because the bond was progressing, or because Gaara was tired and less composed than he normally would be. He simply knew that he felt fear, frustration, hope, curiosity, and…something. All the emotions were quiet. Muted, maybe. But he was relieved that he was starting to feel anything at all.

“Was taijutsu training today helpful?”

There it was, that spike of fear, smothered as quickly as it appeared. “Yes,” Gaara said. “I think I learned quite a bit.”

Lee sensed he was on thin ice, but he really did not have a talent for situations like this. He could only strive to be honest and sincere, and to act in a way he thought Gai-sensei would approve of.

“I told you and Temari-san that I wanted to help in any way I can. I do not think I would be useful to the investigation but I _can_ help to protect you, and I can work with you to learn more about this seal so it is not such a weakness. We can practice fighting as a team, or you can train using Earth chakra. I do not want to be a burden to you.”

Gaara was silent again for a long while. Their bond had been difficult for Lee to understand, but he was sure that he could feel the young man’s discomfort. It broke Lee’s heart to think that his carelessness had led to his friend feeling this way, and there was nothing he could think to do to atone for it.

“You are not…a burden to me,” Gaara whispered finally.

That _seemed_ to be honest, but Lee was sure it was not the full story. He could feel that there was something being left unspoken. He wanted his friend to feel that he could say what was on his mind! Lee would not be upset by the honest truth! Or…perhaps he would, but the heart of youth was to endure and rise ever upwards when faced with adversity! “Please, Gaara,” he told the young Kazekage. “You do not have to spare my feelings. If we are honest with each other then we can make the most of this arrangement. I can feel that you have been more and more stressed since this seal activated. I understand.”

Gaara’s left hand moved to his temple, rubbing anxiously at his hair. It was the most nervous gesture Lee had ever seen from the calm young man. A long stretch of silence passed, and while Lee was not at all good with silences, the seal allowed him to guess that Gaara is composing his thoughts.

“You aren’t a burden,” he repeated. “I’m just…not very good at having someone in my mind.”

The statement sat heavily in the otherwise silent evening air. The first thing Lee wanted to do was proclaim, loudly and earnestly, that Gaara was clearly very good at having someone in his mind, especially compared to most people. That he had controlled Shukaku since infancy and later befriended the One Tail clearly spoke to his competence! All the evidence pointed to Gaara being a master in such a difficult situation! Clearly there was something that the Konoha nin was missing—something else Gaara meant, that he could not trust Lee to know. He simply could not tell what his friend was feeling.

Lee sighed. “I do not think I am very good at it either,” was all Lee he could think to say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're curious what Gaara's personal fighting style in this chapter looks like, you can look at Toph Bei Fong (from the Avatar series) and her Praying Mantis style kung fu/earthbending. You can also look at Dragon style hung gar kung fu. They're more about precision, fluidity, patience, etc than other styles. Still not as soft and flowy as styles like aikido or tai chi or anything, though. They're rooted, efficient styles that don't sacrifice defense.
> 
> Also, relationships (friendships, parent-child relationships, romance) are so messed up in Naruto, aren't they? Train your ten-year-old to kill people for a living, beat each other up for fun...Temari's suggestions that the boys punch each other until they feel better is not good life advice. 
> 
> Anyways, I dunno when the next chapter will be out, but as always, I have gotten a bit started on it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Woah, this fic is still active?!
> 
> Honestly, I'm sorry this took so long to update. I struggled with how to convey Gaara's emotions to this whole thing appropriately, especially through Lee's perspective. So then I chose to write it from Gaara's perspective...and had to figure out how to write him, haha. Next time will be back to Lee's PoV, and hopefully that will pick up the pace.

* * *

 

 

Gaara woke early the morning after the talk he'd had with Lee, feeling immensely comfortable and well-rested. It was when he opened his eyes that he realized he hadn't fallen asleep in the chair at his desk as he sometimes did, or sitting in a meditative stance on his bed. He was on the bed, yes, but he was leaning back against the wall, with Lee's head resting on his shoulder and the older shinobi sleeping deeply next to him.

 

Gaara tensed immediately, though he tried to leave his mind blank as he inched away from his partner, whose body slid down the wall and collapsed happily onto the mattress.

 

The Kazekage slipped off the bed soundlessly and stood with his arms wrapped around himself as he watched his contented friend sleeping. The rise and fall of his breath was slow and peaceful. He was significantly quieter in his sleep than when he was awake.

 

Still, the proximity was uncomfortable. Or rather, it _wasn't_ , which was precisely the issue. In his childhood, Gaara had spent long swathes of time living without being touched, by anyone, in even the most casual or friendly gestures. He knew that, without the seal that was drawing them close to each other, he would not have been able to fall asleep with someone leaning against him. The sense of wrongness of another person touching him casually was something he had struggled with since he had first begun to reform himself. It had not been so easily overcome. He was still that person—that person who wished he could be close to people, but whose life had simply not made him that way.

 

Except now he was in bound to another person. He had absolutely no illusions that it was the power of this jutsu that enabled him to be close to someone as physical as Lee. He had no idea whether their time sparring or sharing chakra has sped up the process, but he had his suspicions. If the previous night was any judge, it seemed the seal had started to _demand_ such contact.

 

Gaara sighed softly, and swept his eyes up to Lee's sleeping face one last time before slipping out the door to retreat to his quiet office. He had things he needed to put in order.

 

* * *

 

Some hours later, Lee found Gaara in the aviary, where he had been dictating notes to his brother about the messages they had received that day. There were a number of correspondences from the Daimyo, all addressed to the Kazekage—the sheer volume sent all at once implied that the old man was restless. Nervous. Gaara was bad at calming people, so he'd consult his siblings about this. Maybe he would even be able to avoid presenting Lee to the Daimyo's court, if they were very persuasive.

 

The Kazekage was lost in thought about these political concerns when he felt Lee approach, feeling a small measure of relief like a breeze. Kankurō looked up, clearly sensing the Konoha nin's chakra.

 

“It's Lee,” Gaara told him a moment before a loud and vigorous knock sounded at the door, startling some of the messenger hawks. When he didn't answer immediately, the knocking was repeated.

 

“Oh for...” Kankurō grumbled. “Just come in here already!” He called. “Stop being so damn noisy.”

 

Lee would be too polite to tell Kankurō that his shouting was louder than the knocking, so Gaara avoided mentioning it too. For the time being.

 

“Hello Gaara! Kankurō-san! I am sorry to interrupt you. I could not find you, or Temari, or any of my escort from Konoha, but I was hoping to be put to work today. Is there anything you would like me to do around the village?”

 

Gaara glanced over his shoulder at his brother, who shrugged. “ _I_ don't care. Temari might have an idea.”

 

Gaara was unsure what he wanted Lee to do, as well. Rather profoundly unsure, in fact.

 

“Letters came from Konoha,” he said, avoiding the topic gracelessly.

 

The Hokage had sent the two letters by hawk, which had arrived in the late morning. The first, as Gaara informed Lee, was an official summary of Konoha’s investigation into the circumstances of the fuinjutsu that had tied their chakra together. An examination by a member of the Yamanaka clan had found that two of the guards along the walls of the village had been put under an unfamiliar genjutsu a day before the seal was closed. The obvious conclusion was that the perpetrators were not Konoha shinobi, however they would not completely rule out the possibility in case it was a misdirection. Beyond that, they were having a difficult time accounting for visiting shinobi given that their borders had been relatively open for the Five Kage Summit, and they would be drafting up a list of all foreign ninja—known and unknown—who were present in Konoha leading up to the sealing.

 

The second letter was handed by Kankurō directly to Lee, still tied with the red ribbon that would have attached it to the hawk’s leg.

 

“You do not want to examine it for coded messages?” Lee looked from Gaara to Kankurō with a frown.

 

“We are allies of the Hidden Leaf,” Gaara stated. It went unsaid that it would require an extreme effort to hide things from Lee given their current circumstances.

 

Still, his...partner...watched him with obvious confusion. Through their seal, the Suna nin felt the echo of that expression, a pure and loud emotion that made his ears buzz.

 

“You still have your privacy,” he added.

 

Lee was stunned, it seemed. Gaara could understand _some_ confusion—the era they had grown up in had not allowed for this kind of trust between shinobi villages. It was difficult for all of them to get used to. But Lee was an honest, trusting individual who wasn't well suited to the darker aspects of ninja life. “We are friends. I do not want to keep secrets from you, Gaara.”

 

There was the issue again. With the training, with staying safe, with what they ate for supper—always it was the same issue. Lee wanted to be close to Gaara without imposing on him. It was impossible.

 

“You aren't keeping it from me. I'm not interested in the letter or its contents,” he explained.

 

The comment provoked more disorienting emotions from Lee. The loudest seemed to be disappointment. “Oh...I suppose you would not be interested. That is true. I am sorry for bothering you.”

 

It would be a lie to say Lee wasn't bothering him, though the letter had nothing to do with it. Taking pity on them both, Gaara replied “Baki will supervise the training hall if you want to spend your afternoon there.”

 

Lee seemed to realize he was being dismissed, and he bowed awkwardly, flushed, and left the aviary without another word. When his presence had faded away from the corner of Gaara's mind, the young man sighed and turned to his brother. “Trying to keep Lee safe may not be the best thing for him.”

 

Kankurō snorted. “You don't want him to be safe? You sick of him already? Guess the seal's not as lovey-dovey as they say it is.”

 

“I'm not sick of him. I just don't think it's what will make him happy.”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” his brother replied. “I know, I was just joking.”

 

Gaara nodded. “I know. But _I'm_ not.”

 

* * *

 

Gaara sat awake at his desk that evening. He was bone-tired, though that was something he was accustomed to being. He was also shaken, and that was somewhat more difficult to overcome. The previous few days had been taxing. Tiredness was one thing, but he was beginning to feel fatigue from the seal unless he was close to Lee. Ironically, it meant that their sessions experimenting with chakra and sparring had been invigorating more than draining. Or at least, they were physically invigorating, even if they left Gaara feeling somewhat disturbed afterwards.

 

He had, during his time as Kazekage, managed to develop quite a bit of diplomacy and self-control. It was not arrogance to say that he had matured. However, this seal was every challenge he had ever struggled with, all tangled together. Here was proof that despite their advancements and their great Alliance, someone still disapproved—violently—of his leadership of Sunagakure. Beyond that, they had put Lee, an important and respected friend, on the chopping block with him. It was unforgivable, and it riled a long-forgotten flavour of anger in him. Beyond that, the seal they had used had uncomfortable side-effects. Gaara had been momentarily paralyzed with shock when his sand barrier had not activated. He himself had tried to prevent the barrier from protecting him in the past, with limited success. For he and Lee to be intertwined this much already...

 

Beyond that, his increasingly frequent nightmares were being inflicted on Lee as well as himself. He felt the need to be close to the Konoha nin, though thankfully only in terms of physical proximity so far. It was not an enormous burden, but Gaara was used to his privacy. And yet another side-effect that burdened Lee particularly was that the seal made it very difficult to have a relationship with anyone else. Stuck in a foreign village, turned into one half of an assassination plot, and bonded to a young man with no romantic inclinations whatsoever...it was not something Gaara would ever wish on his friend, and yet here they were.

 

But for him, the most difficult aspect to deal with was the noise. Everything about Lee was noisy, from his taijutsu style to his appearance to his emotions. Gaara had always bottled certain emotions, compartmentalizing them away from Shukaku, from his family, and from his village. When he was no longer a danger, he became a diplomat, and the need for careful self-regulation had continued. Put simply, having someone else in his mind was painful. He flinched, sometimes, when he would feel Lee experience a loud, uncomplicated fit of joy or determination. The young man seemed to hit unbearable extremes of highs and lows as a matter of his everyday mood. He just felt _everything_ so _strongly_. Gaara barely managed to stay afloat and not be pulled along with those emotions. He could feel himself pulling away with every surge of feeling, because he had no idea what else to do but create distance. It was a defence mechanism from childhood, like a mental wall of sand. He could pull away, divide, compartmentalize, block it out. It was not fair to Lee, but it was a weakness Gaara couldn't seem to overcome yet.

 

He leaned back in his seat, tipping his head back and rubbing at his eyes in a way that Kankurō always said was childish. It was well past midnight, but he had no hope of going to sleep anytime soon. He only hoped his restlessness wasn't disturbing Lee's sleep again.

 

It was as he was gazing at the candle on his desk with his eyes unfocused that Gaara felt a tingle, something that was most similar to an involuntary muscle spasm—the activation of his automatic defence.

 

The sand rushed from the gourd where it leaned against the desk, scraping under the door and out into the hall. Gaara was up in a moment, following his sand to the guest room as though it were leading him. The dull impacts of a taijutsu fight could be heard through Lee's door, and Gaara pushed into the room without announcement.

 

“Gaara!”

 

He took in the scene quickly—three shinobi in nondescript black clothes and blank white masks that wouldn't reveal their allegiances by sight alone. They all brandished weapons which had been held still, clearly assessing a way around the shield of sand that had appeared in front of their target. Gaara felt a flare of something then, before he was able to push it down.

 

Anger.

 

Anger thick and dark as tar, and tinged with the sour feeling of fear. Neither emotion belonged to Lee, who was only surprised and determined as he held his stance. No, the fear at his sand moving _away_ from him without his say-so, and his fear for Lee's safety—his resentment that a plot on _his_ life made his friend the primary target...

 

The anger was only a flash. A spark. Just enough emotion to move Gaara's hand and summon half of his chakra-infused sand forward, slamming the kunoichi in the group against the wall and pinning her there. Gaara's appearance was more than enough to draw the attention of the other two. The smaller of the pair took only a moment to glance at his partner before diving out the window to escape, but the taller man threw out a wide arc of kunai, which Gaara's sand intercepted before the better-aimed knives could reach him or Lee. The sand also blocked Lee from charging forward, which was exactly how Gaara preferred it at the moment.

 

“Wha—hey! Gaara! Please allow me to fight!”

 

So loud. So distracting. He could feel Lee's _confusion, frustration, excitement, confidence_...

 

A tag attached to one of the kunai exploded, though the blast was contained easily by still more sand.

 

The momentary distraction of the exploding tag, and the wall of sand that obscured Gaara's view, were just enough to prevent Gaara from knowing precisely where the assassin moved next. Only the movement of his defence as it adjusted its protection of him and Lee signalled the angle of attack. Channelling his chakra and raising an arm, Gaara pushed a pillar of sand forward in the shape of a grasping hand. He felt the sand brush its target, but the shinobi jumped away, causing his barrier to reorient itself again.

 

_Faster! More precision!_

 

It seemed that the assassin who had been pinned to the wall had been freed by one of the exploding tags. She turned to the offensive, using shuriken to try to breach the barrier.

 

His sand whipped up and around in waves, contorting to shield them at the same time that it chased his two opponents. The environment was not ideal for his style of fighting, which demanded that he be able to keep opponents at a distance. In this guest bedroom, there wasn't much distance to be had, especially if he didn't want Lee's remaining attackers getting an opening to escape. Beyond that, Gaara was worn-out from the past week. He wanted this to be a simple fight.

 

_Box them in! Disrupt their strategy!_

 

The wall of sand moved in an crsecent, allowing Gaara to take in the details of the fight beyond it. The kunoichi was weaving hand signs while her partner guarded her, and lightning coursed up the sword in her left hand. Gaara twisted his fist, willing his sand to spiral into itself, becoming densely-packed to shield them from the chakra-enhanced blade while still more sand hissed forward along the ground, streaking toward the assassins' legs to trap them while they were distracted.

 

The man leaped into the air, weaving hand signs for a fire-style jutsu.

 

Chakra. He was exhausted. He dug deep, past his sense of his own chakra reserves, and reached for Shukaku's seemingly-limitless energy. He pulled it up in an instant, dropping his hands to the ground and raising a stone wall that completely bisected the room. Long shadows climbed up the walls beside him as the fire jutsu was rerouted through the windows and out into the night.

 

Gaara waited only a moment, panting, before he let the wall collapse. The other half of the room was charred black, and empty of anything but the smouldering ashes that had been the furnishings. The assassins were gone—almost definitely out the window, though he would have the tower searched thoroughly in case they escaped through the door.

 

With the fight over, Gaara let out a long breath and released the grip he'd tightened on Shukaku's chakra, and heard the sound of Lee collapsing with a sigh behind him.

 

Lee. _Lee_. Not Shukaku.

 

“Gaara?”

 

The Kazekage drew closer to his friend, crouching down. “Are you alright?”

 

Lee tilted his head, his expressive face sinking into a frown. “Of course I am alright,” he replied. “Are...how are you feeling, Gaara?”

 

The Suna nin allowed himself a moment to assess. His emotions, usually so carefully tended, were bound up with Lee's loud feelings at the moment. Beyond that, he still felt like he was strung tight like a wire. He was buzzing with nerves—probably his _and_ his partner's.

 

“It's not important,” Gaara replied briskly. “Were you injured? Did I use too much of your chakra?”

 

He could immediately feel Lee's indignation at his question being ignored, but he seemed to overcome the reaction. “I am fine. I appreciate you coming to assist me, Gaara, but you did not need to worry about me. I could have beaten them myself. I did not mean to disturb you!”

 

Gaara's fists clenched at his sides. “Disturb me.”

 

“Ahh,” Lee breathed, apparently seeing something on Gaara's face. “Well. Perhaps that _is_ a strange way to think. After all, I endangered you by fighting. But in the future, please do not worry about me! I could...uh...I could feel an emotion from you, earlier,” he said,“so I realize that this seal has been a burden, and that if it is progressing it may present greater challenges. I could tell that you were not happy to be fighting those ninja. But I am excited that you are no longer the only one experiencing its effects!”

 

Gaara felt a spike of fear, then.

 

It was stupid. To be nervous that someone might come closer to understanding him, when that was what he had wanted from the people of Sunagakure for years. But for his emotions to leak past the walls he had created when Shukaku had been sealed inside him—it really did make their Fastening Seal feel tangible.

 

Lee's head tilted and his brows furrowed. “Gaara...are you...alright?”

 

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “I'm fine. I'm sorry that you had to...feel...my reaction to the assassins. I'm sure it was unpleasant.”

 

His partner shook his head. “Why would it be unpleasant? In the heat of battle, there are all manner of pure and sincere emotions that may be felt! I am simply glad that I am not so bad at being sealed that I cannot feel your emotions at all!”

 

It was Gaara's turn to frown. “Bad at being sealed,” he muttered.

 

“I am. But I will endeavour to be an equal partner to you! Rising ever upward is my ninja way!”

 

Lee moved forward, spreading his arms wide, but froze when the sand on the floor between them rippled. Gaara had flinched away without realizing it.

 

“May I, uh...”

 

He tried to relax his shoulders. He could feel Lee's hesitation, when none of this was his fault. Not a single detail.

 

Earlier that evening, Gaara had placed his gourd next to the desk—since it appeared that he and Lee were sharing the sand's defence in some way, it seemed like the fair thing to do would be to put it between them, or to divide it, so it could protect them both equally. But, that was something he didn't feel he could do. Not quite yet. And so the compromise was to keep it within view but close to the hallway. He had let his fear get in the way of Lee's safety.

 

He owed the young man a lot more than he had been giving him.

 

Gaara nodded, and the sand stilled. Lee smiled—that loud, brilliant smile—and raised his arms once more. The Konoha nin pulled Gaara into a hug, his chin tucked above the Kazekage's shoulder.

 

The feeling was intense. It was too much, in fact. But he also felt himself relax, measure by measure.

 

* * *

 

 


End file.
